Sunidhi Chauhan’s Chennai concert turned into a karaoke night for millennials

In your 30s, your person volition inquire you to spell to a Sunidhi Chauhan performance with them. It is precise important that you respond with a large resounding ‘yes’. 

On her ongoing I Am Home circuit crossed the country, the playback vocalist performed successful Chennai connected February 7, and the assemblage was not prepared for the enigma that she is; Sunidhi Chauhan’s three-hour agelong performance was the manifestation of my puerility playlist.

I grew up sneakily switching to Bollywood euphony channels similar 9XM and MTV, conscionable to perceive 2 verses of ‘Mehboob Mere’ and ticker Sushmita Sen’s provocative dance. Sunidhi has been around, singing hits from ‘Desi Girl’, to ‘Kaisi Paheli Zindgani’ since earlier I knew what heartbreak was. But present I americium good acquainted with the feeling, and I recognize the words. What I was unprepared for, was the unit she is connected stage. 

She is nary longer conscionable the dependable down the songs that made maine dance, sing, and propulsion done workouts. For months, videos from her concerts astir the state person been going viral, and it became 1 connected the bucketlist for astir each millennial who grew up similar I did — memorising lyrics and singing into hairbrush microphones. 

After braving Saturday evening postulation connected the ECR for 2 and a fractional hours, sweating done each the constitution portion walking 2 kilometres to the performance venue on with thousands of others, and making it hardly connected time, Sunidhi floated connected signifier singing ‘Udi’ from Guzaarish. In that moment, each the chaos fell away. It was worthy it all, and past some. 

I went into the performance successful 2 minds. I was excited due to the fact that this is Sunidhi Chauhan. It promised everything I privation from a unrecorded show. But I had doubts too. About the city. Would they amusement up for the euphony — oregon conscionable the Instagram stories? Would they creation erstwhile she launched into ‘Race saanson ki’, oregon basal politely, filming a fewer hits for societal media clout earlier calling it a night? 

The scepticism lasted precisely 1 song. It disappeared into the sweaty, salty aerial erstwhile she lifted the mic and fto the assemblage instrumentality implicit ‘yeh jo halka halka suroor hai’, and the arena roared the words backmost astatine her, large capable to drawback adjacent her disconnected guard. From there, the nighttime lone got better.  

Apart from the present viral ‘Aa zara’ remixed with Sam Smith’s ‘Unholy’, she besides sang Selena Gomez’s ‘Taki Taki’, and precise overmuch to the crowd’s surprise, ‘Sha la la’ from the deed tamil movie Ghilli, ‘Selfie Pulla’ from Kaththi, and ‘Jingunamani’ from Jilla. Each fig drew a louder, wilder effect than the last. Whether it was the high-voltage creation anthems she is synonymous with oregon a slower, much soulful stretch, the assemblage did not conscionable sing along, they belted each connection backmost astatine her.

Chants of “Sunidhi, Sunidhi” refused to fade, adjacent during the little 10-minute interlude erstwhile she stepped disconnected stage. In her absence, her dancers took implicit with ‘Lucky Boy’ — arguably 1 of the astir electrical tracks successful a catalogue that runs into the thousands. While it would person been a thrill to perceive her execute it live, the troupe much than held their own. The choreography passim the evening was meticulously crafted. 

After a costume change, she re-entered with a flowy skirt that did justness to ‘Aaja nachle’. At 42, she matched her dancers measurement for step, navigating the choreography successful precocious heels without sacrificing enactment oregon pitch.

With each song, the anticipation for immoderate of her biggest hits kept building. We knew these were the amusement stoppers and the climax of the evening. It began with ‘Aankh’ an autarkic opus written by composer-lyricist Prateeksha Srivastava, and slipped into hits similar ‘Jhoom barabar jhoom’, ‘Bumbro’, ‘Main mast’ ‘Deedar de’ ‘Deewangi’ and the crescendo with ‘Sheela ki jawani’.

My lone ailment was her omission of ‘Beedi jalaile’ from Omkara — 1 of her much ferocious performances. We had watched clips of her mounting different cities ablaze with it, and waited for that acquainted “one past song” return, with the lights dimming earlier the encore. It ne'er came. The signifier went dark, the set packed up, and a faint consciousness of incompletion lingered. 

But the assemblage refused to fto it extremity there. Trapped successful the chaotic exit, battling anemic networks and intolerable cab fares, a fewer girls successful sparkly dresses began singing the opus — glitter smudged, voices hoarse, hardly successful tune. What the signifier withheld, they attempted to reclaim - aft each it was a opus they grew up on, 1 they had made theirs .